There's one word I wasn't expecting to hear on the morning of Valentine's Day: chemo.
At 8:15am this morning, I arrived at Dr. Jarrett's office. I really like him. As I walked down the hall with the nurse, I passed him briefly and he and say's "Hey Jen. How are you feeling?" "Good, I feel good," I said quickly as we passed and I walked into the room. After a few minutes of me changing and hopping onto the table contraption with the red and pink heart covered "foot holders" (that's what I call them), Dr. Jarrett came in to perform an ultrasound. He looked around and didn't see anything, which made him think that the pregnancy is in my tubes. During this appointment, he more seriously went over the symptoms of a tubal rupture/ectopic pregnancy and told me that I am to head straight to the ER if I feel any abdominal pain, shoulder pain, or dizziness. He also prescribed Methotrexate, which is an intramuscular injection of chemo that is meant to dissolve the tubal pregnancy thus saving my tubes and avoiding any surgery or ER visits. That chemo word is pretty intense, right? #yikes
The nurse left for a minute to determine my dose and get the shot ready for me. When she came back in, she gave me the shot and talked really cautiously about how I might be feeling. I didn't have any questions because I felt like Dr. Jarrett had fully explained everything, but she went on to talk about some of the most common asked questions she gets from patients. She told me that some women ask if the embryo can be saved, but said that is not possible when the pregnancy is located in the tubes. She also told me that I may feel very fatigued for the next week, but can continue normal activity if I feel up to it. I'm not allowed to have any alcohol, vitamins, aspirin or ibuprofen for two weeks and I am to come back in next Wednesday for another blood draw to check that HCG level again. She told me that my level may go up, but that it should drop soon after. I will have two blood draws next week and once per week following until the levels are negative.
At 8:15am this morning, I arrived at Dr. Jarrett's office. I really like him. As I walked down the hall with the nurse, I passed him briefly and he and say's "Hey Jen. How are you feeling?" "Good, I feel good," I said quickly as we passed and I walked into the room. After a few minutes of me changing and hopping onto the table contraption with the red and pink heart covered "foot holders" (that's what I call them), Dr. Jarrett came in to perform an ultrasound. He looked around and didn't see anything, which made him think that the pregnancy is in my tubes. During this appointment, he more seriously went over the symptoms of a tubal rupture/ectopic pregnancy and told me that I am to head straight to the ER if I feel any abdominal pain, shoulder pain, or dizziness. He also prescribed Methotrexate, which is an intramuscular injection of chemo that is meant to dissolve the tubal pregnancy thus saving my tubes and avoiding any surgery or ER visits. That chemo word is pretty intense, right? #yikes
The nurse left for a minute to determine my dose and get the shot ready for me. When she came back in, she gave me the shot and talked really cautiously about how I might be feeling. I didn't have any questions because I felt like Dr. Jarrett had fully explained everything, but she went on to talk about some of the most common asked questions she gets from patients. She told me that some women ask if the embryo can be saved, but said that is not possible when the pregnancy is located in the tubes. She also told me that I may feel very fatigued for the next week, but can continue normal activity if I feel up to it. I'm not allowed to have any alcohol, vitamins, aspirin or ibuprofen for two weeks and I am to come back in next Wednesday for another blood draw to check that HCG level again. She told me that my level may go up, but that it should drop soon after. I will have two blood draws next week and once per week following until the levels are negative.
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